Wooler was a British manufacturer of

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

s and automobiles, founded by engineer John Wooler in 1911 based in Alperton, Middlesex. The company became known for its unconventional designs which included several fore-and-aft twins, a vertical

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

single cylinder machine, a transverse-four

beam engine A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead Beam (structure), beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used b ...

, and a transverse

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

. Most machines possessed Wooler's enduring design features of a

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

tank which extended past the steering head. In 1919-1920 the Wooler ''Mule''

cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...

was manufactured until the company was reformed.

History

Motorcycles

Autostadt Wolfsburg - motorrad ikonen - Wooler Model B 1919 1 - Flickr - KlausNahr

John Wooler designed his first motorcycle in 1909 – a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

horizontal single-cylinder machine with a double-ended piston. The first production model was a 230 cc two-stroke with front and rear plunger spring suspension and a patent "anti-vibratory" frame. The motorbike was manufactured by

Wilkinson Wilkinson or Wilkinsons may refer to: Businesses and brands * Wilko, formerly Wilkinson Hardware, a British retail chain * Wilkinson Sword, a British manufacturer of razor blades, formerly swords, motorbikes and other products ** Wilkinson TMC ...

from 1912 onwards with a 344 cc engine and marketed as the Wilkinson-Wooler. Production was halted during

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

, and a receiver was appointed for the company in 1915, but the company's

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

contracts with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

allowed it to survive the war years. Motorcycle production resumed in 1919 with a new and advanced machine which was entered in the 1921

Junior TT The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Engine ...

where it was nicknamed the "Flying Banana" by Graham Walker.

Automobiles

The Wooler Mule

was announced in February 1919. It was powered by a 1022 cc air-cooled twin with the cylinders protruding from the sides of the bonnet, and a circular dummy radiator. The engine used rotary valves. It had a double rear wheel giving the impression of a three-wheeler. No prices were published, but contemporary press reports suggested a price of around £130 which had increased to £185 by December. Only a few prototypes were built. In 1920 the company was reformed as The Wooler Motor Cycle Company (1919) Ltd. and the ''Mule'' ceased production.

1920s motorcycles

In 1920 the company was reformed as The Wooler Motor Cycle Company (1919) Ltd. In 1930 the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

caused the company's closure.

Post WW2 motorcycles

Wooler returned in 1945 with a prototype 500 cc transverse four shaft drive with an unusual beam type engine with the cylinders set one above the other like the

Brough Superior Golden Dream The Brough Superior Golden Dream was designed and built by George Brough in Nottingham, England, in 1938. With its distinctive gold finish, this was to be the ultimate Brough Superior but production was stopped by the outbreak of War in 1939. ...

. It was displayed at the

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

show in 1948 and again in 1951. It never ran properly and in 1954 Wooler returned to Earls Court with a completely different transverse flat four, still air-cooled with shaft drive. No more than five are thought to have been built before the company closed in 1956 after Wooler's death. An example can be seen in the British National Motorcycle Museum.

References